Home Respiratory Therapy Leaders Applaud Nomination of Alex Azar to Secretary of Health and Human Services

Washington, DC, November 14, 2017 –(PR.com)– The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) – a coalition of the nation’s leading home oxygen therapy provider and manufacturing companies – today commended the nomination of Alex Azar by President Donald Trump to become Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Specifically, home respiratory care leaders are eager to work with the new HHS leadership to reform the Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) for the Medicare home respiratory therapy benefit, as well as other durable medical equipment. The CQRC has expressed concern that the current program policies, particularly the methodology for determining the rates, impede care providers and suppliers from bidding amounts that align with their costs or that are driven by actual market forces.

“As a coalition of Medicare’s home respiratory care providers, we congratulate Mr. Azar on his nomination and express support for a swift confirmation so that he can begin to work collaboratively with healthcare providers on reforms to improve efficiencies and patient care,” said Dan Starck, Chairman of CQRC. “We hope to work with HHS and CMS to strengthen the competitive bidding program to properly align rates with supplier costs so neither the government nor beneficiaries are paying too much. We want to work with policymakers to develop a sustainable competitive bidding program that adequately reimburses providers for the costs of delivering quality home respiratory care in order to protect beneficiary access.”

Home respiratory therapy supplies and services are vital to managing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and other pulmonary conditions. Data shows home oxygen care reduces preventable hospitalizations and readmissions, signaling that reduced access to quality respiratory care in the home will result in increased emergency room (ER) visits and readmissions, therefore harming patient outcomes and increasing Medicare costs.

To learn more, visit cqrc.org and follow CQRC on Twitter at @TheCQRC.

The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC) – a coalition of the nation’s leading home oxygen therapy provider and manufacturing companies – today commended the nomination of Alex Azar by President Donald Trump to become Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).